WELL…ACTUALLY, the pages aren’t really, like, actually, from Jeanette. I mean, she sent them, that’s true. But she didn’t DO them. They’re from some of her editors. Here’s her brief note:

FROM JEANETTE: We have three newer editors, so here are their front page for this week. I’d love your input. Thanks.

Here are the pages, with comments from Ed.

FROM ED:1. Sales tax story is too long here…and it jumps! Needs a pull quote or graphic here to draw reader interest. Could also use a subhead to give more details before readers decide to start reading it. 2. The top of your teaser rail says “Inside this week.” So the “Look inside this issue for…” in the first two teasers is redundant. Wording in the “Coming in Print” item also is redundant. 3. Have you considered doing cutout photos in the teaser rail? They would create greater reader interest. 4. Why the tint block behind the rail? It’s not needed. 5. None of these photos is dominant, though the Witzig photo is just a bit larger. Page needs a dominant pic. 6. You could have cropped another inch off the bottom of the Witzig pic. 7. More space is needed between packages. I suggest three picas…two at the least. 9. The “See player…” refer is too large, too bold. It draws too much attention to itself. 8. Text is not aligned to the baseline grid. This needs to be fixed as soon as possible. 10. The blue bar with reversed type below the nameplate is a dated look. I’d consider a thinner rule with the type below.

FROM ED:1.”Leader reveals…” piece is short and the “Meetings held…” box is an obvious filler. How about an infobox listing the goals instead? 2. No need to paragraph the descriptive type in the “Lincoln exhibit” teaser. And…it’s too long. And…it’s redundant. Wording in the “Coming in Print” item also is redundant. 3. Have you considered doing cutout photos in the teaser rail? They would create greater reader interest. 4. Why the tint block behind the rail? It’s not needed. 5. Lead photo is very static. This package really needs a photo of the horse during a therapy session with a rider. 6. As a reader, I would much rather have seen a chart outlining student financial help than a static photo of the college president in the “Students struggle…” piece. If they’re struggling, we need to demonstrate how and why that’s happening graphically. 7. Why the wide measure type (with the photo cut in) in the horse package? This design is distracting. 8. All stories here are set flush left, with the exception of the video gaming piece. Why is that article set justified? 9. More space is needed between packages. I suggest three picas…two at the least. 10. Text is not aligned to the baseline grid. This needs to be fixed as soon as possible. 11. The blue bar with reversed type below the nameplate is a dated look. I’d consider a thinner rule with the type below.

FROM ED:1.”Council reviews…” needs a visual. Perhaps a pull quote—there are a couple of good quotes in the story. I wish this had a subhead…the headline alone doesn’t tell me enough. 2. You could have trimmed about 1.5 to 2 inches off the top of the lead photo. 3. Wording in the “Coming in Print” item is redundant. 4. Have you considered doing cutout photos in the teaser rail? They would create greater reader interest. 5. Why the tint block behind the rail? It’s not needed. 6. I like the “What you’re saying on Facebook…” box but I would consider ditching the frame and using a shadow box instead. 7. The overline on the “Armed administrators…” piece makes be have to read “back upwards.” Let’s use a subhead below the lead headline instead. 8. All stories here are set justified, giving the page a grayer, more static feel. 9. More space is needed between packages. I suggest three picas…two at the least. 10. Text is not aligned to the baseline grid. This needs to be fixed as soon as possible. 11. The blue bar with reversed type below the nameplate is a dated look. I’d consider a thinner rule with the type below.

Overall, I see little in these pages that makes me want to rush to read. There’s really nothing terribly wrong with them but they are not compelling in the least. I’d have been tempted to give the Game Ball Run and the Video gaming packages much stronger play—with larger photos and more negative space—to get readers into these pages.

Jeanette can use your thoughts, too. What ideas can you share with her?

MICHAEL SMITH PULLED THIS PHOTO from one of his recent pages (see next post).

COASTAL CAROLINA forward Savannah Pippin (right)fights with a pair of Charleston Southern defenders for controlof a rebound in Saturday’s Big South opener at the HTC Center.

FROM ED: A really good photo. Good composition, taken at just the right moment. You can feel the tension and competitive fire of the players. Unfortunately, it’s a bit too yellowish. That may be a result of shooting under the gym lights. However, I would have taken a few moments (as I did below) to adjust the flesh tones. Otherwise, it’s a good shot!

WANT TO SEE YOUR PHOTO FEATURED HERE? Just send it along with a quick note and we’ll post it for others to see and comment.

TO SEE HOW MICHAEL USED the photo in this week’s “Hot Shots,” we’re placing the sports page first in this post.

FROM MICHAEL: At the last minute, the ad department pulled a 1/4 page ad. All other sports pages were shipped and even printing and we had no other sports content, so I yanked the house ad that was dummied and went large.

FROM ED: “…yanked the house ad that was dummied and went large.” Yep. That’s just what I would have done. It’s a good photo (but see comments in previous post about the yellow tones) and using it larger helps the page. Good move!

FROM MICHAEL: We were first to report about the Episcopal church lawsuit, even before the AP. The photo is original art from one of the churches that’s a plaintiff in the suit. For the budget story, I used a doughnut graph to illustrate the large budget appropriations. It seemed more polished than a pie graph.

FROM ED: Overall, I like the church package, though I wonder why you reversed the caption into the photo instead of just placing it below. I would really like to see you challenge yourself to do absolutely no reverses for a month or so. I think your designs would improve as a result. No, I am not totally opposed to reverses…but I think you overdo it. Really like the use of the quote headline on the package at the bottom. I think it’s an effective way of getting readers into the story. I’m not sold on the use of the doughnut graphs. Seems to me that the “doughnut holes” add nothing to the visual effect of the graph—and it may confuse some readers into wondering what the holes mean to the graphic: What number do they stand for? Why are they there? If pie charts are simple and effective, why mess with a good thing?

What do you think? Is Ed too much of a fuddy-duddy on the pie chart issue? Would you be OK with the doughnut holes? Jump in with your thoughts!